Combination table type and cemetery b



Feb. 7, 1956 c. M. MOORE, JR

COMBINATION TABLE TYPE AND CEMETERY VASE Filed Jan. 16, 1953 INVENTOR. C/aflmce M. Mao/'4, J:

I 26 22 7/17/////, lll|ll 15 I!!! II! COMBINATION TABLlg'gEPE AND CEMETERY Clarence M. Moore, Jr., Kansas City, Mo.

Application January 16, 1953, Serial No. 331,581

1 Claim. (CI. 47-41) This invention relates to improvements in vases, and particularly to those types of containers adapted and conventionally employed for holding flowers, ferns and similar decorative flora within a quantity of water.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a combination table type and cemetery vase that includes a ground-piercing element in the usual manner, adapting the vase for cemetery use, but which element is readily removable from the vase, whereby to adapt the same for table use as may be desired.

It has heretofore been necessary for florists to utilize one type of vase for delivery of flowers to the home or to hospitals, and to provide a still different type of vase adapted for cemetery use in that the same include ground-piercing means to maintain the vase in an upright position at the grave side.

It is the most important object of the present invention, therefore, to completely eliminate these problems by providing a vase having means in the bottom thereof for removably receiving a ground-piercing pin, so that the vase may be used in the home or in the hospital by virtue of the fact that the provision of the pin and the mounting means therefor does not adversely affect the ability of the vase to rest upon a flat surface when the pin is removed.

Other objects include the way in which the structure for removably mounting the pin on the vase serves to prevent tight wedging of the vases,'one within another, when so positioned for storage or shipment; the way in which the ground-piercing element is removably wedged within a socket formed in the bottom of the vase; the manner of making the pin tubular and open at its top so that the same is adapted for receiving individual flower stems; and many more minor objects to be hereinafter made clear.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a combination table type and cemetery vase made pursuant to the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a central, vertical, cross-sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse, cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the ground-piercing element extended from the vase and removed from the socket of the vase provided therefor.

As is clear in the drawing, the hollow, open top flower vase forming a part of the present invention, and broadly designated by the numeral 10, has a frusto-conical side wall 12 and a bottom wall 14 that is preferably of greater thickness, and therefore of greater strength, than the side wall 12, as is clear in Figs. 2 and 4. Bottom wall 14 is provided with an uppermost or innermost surface 16 and a flat, outermost or bottom surface 18, all to the end that when a ground-piercing element 20 is removed from the vase 10, as shown in Fig. 4, the vase will rest upon any flat surface, such as a table. Accordingly, when the element or pin 20 is not used, vase 10 may be employed to contain flowers and'the like, together with a quantity of water, since the side wall 12 and the bottom wall 14 are imperforate. It is contemplated, therefore, that the vase 10 be employed by the florist as desired or needed to make delivery of flowers to the home, to the hospital, or to other'points of use wherein it is desired that the vase 10 be capable of resting upon its fiat bottom surface 18 on a suitable support.

By virtue of the provision of pin 20, however, the

vase 10 is adapted for cemetery use, and to this end there is provided an open bottom member 22 within the vase 10 forming an integral part of the bottom wall 14 and presenting therefore a downwardly facing socket 24. The member 22, centrally disposed within the bottom wall 14, has a flat top wall 26 spaced above the bottom Wall 14 in parallelism with the faces 16 and 18 thereof, and a frusto-conical side wall 28 that may have substantially the same angularity as that of the side wall 12, with the socket 24 progressively decreasing in diameter as the top wall 26 is approached.

The pin 20 is adapted for wedging tightly in the socket 24 in frictional engagement with the inner face of the wall 28, and to this end the pin 20 is provided with a cylindrical portion 30, presenting an annular, flat, uppermost end or edge 32. When the cylindrical portion 30 is within the socket 24, the lowermost face of the wall 26 rests flatly upon the annular edge 32. The pin 20 is preferably hollow and open at its uppermost end, but otherwise imperforate. The cylindrical portion 30 merges into an elongated, tapering length 34 that terminates in a pointed, lowermost end 36. Accordingly, when the pin 20 is attached to the vase 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it may be forced into the ground with the lowermost, flat surface 18 resting flatly on the ground, whereby the vase and its contained water and flowers are supported as desired.

It is contemplated that the manufacturer supply the florist with the vases 10 each having a pin 20 therefor. The florist may thereupon utilize the pin 20 only when the vase is to be delivered to or used at the cemetery.

By virture of the fact, further, that the pin 20 is hollow and adapted to contain water, it may be advantageously used as a means for additive decoration for planters and the like. The pin 20 may be inserted in the soil of a planter or potted plant, filled with water, and thereupon used to receive the stem of a cut flower, which will lend attractiveness to the planter during the life of the cut flower within the pin 20. By virtue of the fact that the cavity 24 is of a frusto-conical nature, the pin 20 will engage therewithin in a tight manner and yet be readily removable as desired.

It is seen further that the construction hereof adapts itself for manufacture from many materials, and to this end, in the interest of attractiveness, inexpensiveness, and ease of use by the florist, a suitable plastic material might well be used.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In combination, a pair of receptacles each adapted to contain water, one of said receptacles comprising an open top flower vase provided with a frusto-conical side wall and an imperforate, normally horizontal bottom wall having a greater thickness than the side wall, there being an open bottom, centrally disposed hollow member extending upwardly into the vase entirely above the lowermost face of the bottom wall, the outside diameter of said member being appreciably less than the diameter of said side wall adjacent the bottom wall, said member having a side wall integral with the bottom wall and provided with a frusto-conical interior face, and a flat top wall integral with said side wall of the mem- P atented Feb. 7, 1956i her and parallel with said bottom wall, presenting a downwardly. facing socket, permanently closed by said. top wall and progressively decreasing in diameter as the top wall is approached, the other of said receptacles comprising an elongated, open top element, tubular throughout its length and provided with a frusto-conical, ground-piercing pin having a'pointed, lowermost, closed end, there being a cylindrical portion integral with the uppermost end of said pin wedged tightly into the socket in frictional engagement with saidv interior face, said. cylindrical portion having a flat, annular uppermost edge, the outside diameter of said cylindrical portion being substantially the same as the maximum diameter of said socket, said top wall resting on said flat edge, said lowermost outer face of thebottom wall being flat, adapting the same for resting flatly upon the ground when said pin is forced into the ground and for resting flatly 0n supporting surfaces when the vase is removed from said element, leaving the latter inserted in the ground to receive flowers and water.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 173,480 Lee Feb. 15, 1876 466,074 Hunt Dec. 29, 1891 585,486 Snow June 29, 1897 780,118 Mosier Jan. 17, 1905 1,812,737 Coughlin et al. June 30, 1931 1,879,220 Harmony Sept. 27, 1932 

